The one thing I can say about my collection is that I have a range of artists and genres. I’m a fan of American Soul music. One artist that fits this bill is Gladys Knight. Gladys was born in Atlanta, Georgia, USA in 1944.

Her brother Merald and cousins William Guest & Edward Patten made up her backing group, “The Pips.” In 1961 shown only as “The Pips” Gladys Knight and The Pips reached #6 in the US Billboard pop chart with “Every Beat Of My Heart” on the Vee-Jay label.

In 1966 they were on Soul Records a sub label of the Motown Record Corporation.

In 1973 they moved to Buddah Records and by the end of 1975 together they had a total of 24 top 40 hits 8 of which had reached the top 10 in the US. This featured record surprisingly only made it to #52 on the pop chart (#10 on R&B chart) in the US, however in the UK it reached #4 charting for 12 weeks. It also made the top 10 in Belgium and The Netherlands.

“Baby, Don’t Change Your Mind” was written by Van McCoy, himself an artist who made #1 in the US with the track “The Hustle”. McCoy and Charles Kipps produced this soul record, both men involved in producing music with Aretha Franklin, Melba Moore, Peaches and Herb, The Presidents, The Shirelles, David Ruffin and many more.

I like the upbeat nature of the song, although the words are a plea to her “man” that because “his” ex is in town there are now concerns that he might be drawn into his ex’s charms. Will he have second thoughts about their relationship. Her message is clear – Baby, don’t change your mind, don’t change it, you know my love is genuine, don’t change your mind…..

The B-Side is a funky string lead disco track called “I Love To Feel That Feeling” which moves at a frenetic pace,